25. Emmett
After seeing Cassie act in her showcase, I knew, 100%, that my script had to be turned into a film. Why? Well, it’s our love story. The problem is, I wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. I knew actors got movies made all the time, but I didn’t want just anyone making this movie. I wanted it to be filmed at January Studios, my home studio.
Everything needed to happen quickly. I needed to figure out my next move prior to the interview, so I asked the one person I knew could help me for assistance.
Ed.
Ed has been there for me, frequently, over the years. Even before I signed on for these last two movies, we knew each other just from being in the same circles. He has always rooted for me.
I asked him to come to my trailer early Monday morning, knowing that I would have a few minutes before I saw Cassie for the day. When I told him my idea, he sat there and listened, not saying anything the entire time, besides humming here and there.
When I asked him if he knew anyone I could talk to, he made the most surprising proposal. He mentioned he was looking for a short movie to produce and direct, since the next movie being filmed at the studio wasn’t for another three months.
I was speechless.
He called Carla, gave her the heads up to set up some meetings for him, and told me we would talk more details later this week once they wrote the paperwork up. I had to ensure it was okay if I wanted Cassie to be the main actress, to which he responded with one request: that I act alongside her. Our chemistry is what will sell the movie.
He couldn’t have said anything else to convince me otherwise.
So, that’s how I took a tiny script and landed a deal with January Studios. The short film is expected to last around 30 to 40 minutes, including credits and all.
My mental load is lighter. The last week on set is normally quite emotional, but knowing that I get to stay here with my girl, I’m not sad. Instead, I’m looking forward to the coming weeks as we finalize everything and get started on the film.
I”m keeping my fingers crossed Cassie will say yes. I don”t want her to think that I handed her this role. It”s important to me she knows she”s earned it, considering the effort she has invested, this is the reward she deserves. If only to see her smile, I would give her this role and more.
It wasn’t even my original idea to ask Cassie. I knew she had an issue with past relationships, and I didn’t want to cross a line by asking her to act in a role that was based on our relationship. The movie will follow our so-called “meet cute” and the development of our relationship over the weeks, filled with our secret dating and sneaking around. Max was the one who suggested Cassie when I showed him the script a few weeks back. Of course, this was before I decided to quit acting, when I was just throwing around the idea of getting the script produced.
I was glad that a few others could see Cassie when she performed both as an extra and at her showcase. Her ability to connect to a character on an emotional level and step into their shoes is unbelievable, and I’m hoping she will say yes to being a part of this.
I think she will. Once she arrives at my apartment, which will be any minute now, she”ll definitely bring it up to me. I’ve asked that it’s not revealed that it’s my movie, I want to save that for the interview. She needs to understand first that we offered the role to her because of her ability to act, not because of me.
A knock comes from the front door before Cassie comes striding through it. She walks over to me and gives me a kiss.
“Hi. I’ve been itching to do that all day.” She walks back over to the front door, taking off her shoes and setting her purse down. She’s started keeping clothes and necessary items here, so she doesn’t even bring an overnight bag anymore.
I’ve been wanting to ask her to move in, but I know she loves living with Lucy, and we can’t take that next step until we’re public and all is well with that. It would just cause extra eyes to be on our relationship before we’re ready.
“Something on your mind?” I ask. Cassie is practically pacing the apartment. She stops mid-stride and looks at me with a curious eye.
“Hm, yes, Igotofferedajobasaleadingactress.”
I walk over to her and take her hand in mine. “If I understand your gibberish, you said you got offered a role? Is that right? When?”
“This morning.”
Cassie fills me in on what happened this morning. She tells me about how Carla apparently already knew about us and how Carla handed her a folder with nothing but a title page. How Marcy and Carla wouldn’t tell her anything but asked for her trust. No, she knows nothing; she swears. We end up sitting at the island to keep talking about the movie and what little she knows about it. I make us tea, since that’s part of our thing. We sip the hot drinks while chatting some more and she lets me know Annie is telling their mom about her upcoming move to LA.
“Wait, Annie is telling your mom tonight?”
Cassie nods. She takes a sip of her tea, closing her eyes to relish in the warmth and comfort it’s bringing her at this moment.
“Well, okay, then you telling her you’re doing the movie will put a nice little bow on things and she will forget all about Annie leaving her.”
“I didn’t say I was taking the movie,” she says mid-sip, cup still inches from her mouth.
I dip my head and uptick my brows in question.
Cassie sighs. “Okay, fine, yes, I’m accepting the job. I knew I would accept it this morning, but wanted to talk to you first about it. I wanted you to know that I would be there for you after the interview on Saturday and offer to go somewhere or do something with all the free time we’ll have. I didn’t want to be the person to force us to remain in the same spot because I—”
I cut her off. “Sass, you should know that I’m proud of you.” I let go of my mug and place my hand on her left thigh. I give her one squeeze before returning my hand to the cup. “I’m more than thrilled to support you and be there for you while you film this. This is your dream. Maybe I’ll even hang out on set with you, ya know, keep you company. It’ll be you now with a trailer.” I wink at her.
She laughs.
“I didn’t think about having my own trailer. Okay, fair. Well, just know whatever you want to do with your writing, I’ll support you.”
She’s already helped me more than she knows. Not only has she been my muse while writing this script, she has given me the courage to face my parents and chase my dream. It’s only natural for me to want to help her achieve hers.
We talk for a while about the most random topics. We chat about the upcoming holidays, and I learn about what her family does to celebrate. I find out that she broke her arm in the third grade from jumping too high on a trampoline, which I tell her is cliche. I tell her about the time I got caught trying to sneak into a rated R movie when I was 12, one downside to having a famous dad. With every question she asks, I delve deeper into my past, painting a picture of my childhood experiences. We don’t normally talk about my parents, because it’s never a fun topic for me, but after she met them this past weekend, I find myself wanting to tell her more, so she understands why our relationship is the way it is.
We find our way into the bedroom after we finish our tea. Our conversation trails us as we get ready for bed together like we have done for the past two months.
Lying in bed, Cassie turns toward me to speak, her voice soft and gentle. “How do you think your dad will respond to Saturday?”
That’s the number one question in my mind, too.
“I don’t know.” I roll over onto my back and look up at the ceiling. To ease my mind, I pause and take a deep breath. “I want to think that he’d be proud of me, you know?” I roll back over to face Cassie. “I’ve actually found my own thing and I love it. I love writing. I love acting too, but it’s not the same. Acting has always felt like something I had to do because of my dad. That because it was his thing, I had to follow in his footsteps. When I met other writers at a young age, they inspired me to write my first script. It was terrible, but I didn’t expect to love it so much.”
“Why do you love writing?” Cassie asks. Not in a judgemental way, but because she’s curious.
“Writing started as my escape. I found freedom in writing. I got lost writing about these fictional characters and I could step into their shoes and pretend to be them. Even if it was for a little while, I didn’t have to be Emmett, son of a famous Hollywood actor. I think it helped me heal from whatever fucked up childhood I lacked.”
“I get that. Well, I don’t know how Saturday will go, but we can’t control that. All we can control is right now, the present.”
I don’t have time to respond before Cassie pushes me onto my back and straddles me.
She leans and places her lips on mine. I grab her hips and kiss her back with passion and intention. Cassie’s hands trail my arms until they wrap behind my head.
Her head leans to the side, begging for our kiss to deepen. I answer by shoving my tongue in her mouth, tracing and memorizing.
Cassie moves her hips forward and backward, rocking on my now-hard cock. A small moan escapes her lips, and my hands tighten on her hips in response. I want more.
She must want more too because she breaks apart our kiss and scoots off my lap. Her hands reach for the band of my pants and she pulls. I lift my butt up with enough room for her to slide my pants and underwear down. She stops once my cock springs free from my underwear, grabbing it with her right hand. Gradually, her hand moves up and down, the rhythm matching the beat of my racing heart.
I lean my head back, resting it for a moment on the headboard. A sharp exhale escapes my lips as her tongue traces the head, sending shivers down my spine. Little circles, enough to drive me insane. I’m about ready to tell her I need more when she takes more of my length into her mouth.
I lean forward, stretching my arm to grab her head, begging her to move faster. Cassie”s touch becomes more intense as she massages my balls with her left hand while engulfing me. I let out a soft moan, unable to contain my pleasure.
“Cassie,” I say. I need her to stop before I come in her mouth.
She looks up at me with only her eyes, my cock still in her mouth.
“My turn.”
With one last downward and upward motion, she lets go of my cock. With a gentle tug on her hands, I pull her toward me, positioning myself beneath her. I reposition us so that I”m the one on top. Using my hands, I trail her body and lower her pants to her ankles. She reaches to grab the bottom hem of her shirt, pulls it up over her head, and throws it on the ground.
My hands instinctively reach up, tracing the curves of her hips, moving upwards toward her chest, and gliding back down. Cassie reaches toward me to grab the bottom hem of my shirt and tugs upwards, so I help her by taking it off.
“Tell me what you want,” I whisper into her ear.
“You,” she whispers back.
I glide down her body, positioning myself near her legs. Placing one hand on both knees, I put a little bit of pressure on them to get her to open up. I hook my hands around her knees and pull her forward so she’s in the middle of the bed, giving me more access to her pussy.
I lean and place soft kisses in the sensitive area between her thighs, shifting sides until I settle between her legs. Cassie”s right hand rests gently on her breast, while her other hand tangles in my hair. I use my tongue to pleasure her, her hips arching in response to the sensations. With each moan, her voice trembles, and my name escapes her lips in a soft whimper. I slide one finger inside, followed by another, causing her breath to grow heavier in response.
“Come for me, baby,” I say and return my mouth to her. Following the rhythm of her breaths, I pick up my pace and observe her slowly unraveling. Her hand gets caught in my hair and tugs on it gently. My pace slows and her breath gradually returns to a steady rhythm. I lean up and press my lips against hers, the softness and warmth anchoring me. The night is just getting started.
I lean over to grab a condom from the nightstand. Cassie takes it from me, opens it, and slides it down my length.
“I need to be inside you,” I groan.
Cassie scoots back toward the headboard, laying on her back, waiting patiently.
I press my hand to the outside of her left leg, applying pressure to get her to turn over. “Flip over, Sass.”
“So demanding.” She wiggles her eyebrows, teasing me, but she rolls over. She lifts onto her knees, her chest still laying on the bed.
I position the tip where she needs it most and slowly push into her, the sound of our breaths interwoven like threads. No matter how hard I try to maintain a slow pace, she presses against me, provoking me to pick up speed. My left hand explores her body, while the other finds its place on her slit, responding to the ebb and flow of her breaths.
“Emmett,” Cassie sighs, her voice filled with both fatigue and relief.
When we finish, we take the time to clean up before snuggling back into bed, intertwining in each other”s embrace.
“You know, I never thought I could have something like this,” I say to her, my head propped up on my arm, my elbow resting on the mattress. Cassie is laying on her back, her head tilted in my direction.
“Why do you say that?”
“Growing up, my parents…” I pause, adjusting to lie fully on my side, moving my arm to be underneath my head. “I didn’t have a lot of love at home. It was a lot of public love, but nothing in the privacy of our home. We didn’t eat dinner as a family, we didn’t take vacations unless it was for the media, and they never cared to ask what I wanted to do with my life. I suppose I never thought I could have love like this.” I bite my lip. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I am completely and utterly in love with you.” With my thumb, I gently stroke her jaw, back and forth.
Cassie leans in toward me, pressing her lips to mine. “I love you too, Hotshot.”
I playfully push her away, our laughter blending with the sound of our conversation as we unravel the depths of each other.